Leadership 100 40th Anniversary Book v15as - Flipbook - Page 13
Chimples then offered his
recommendation as a formal
motion and a lengthy debate
followed in which Archbishop
Iakovos intervened to stress that
“the Church always honored and
cherished contributions made by
the general membership of the
Church,” but “the Church likewise
sought contributions from ‘wellto-do persons because these
individuals have a greater obligation
to offer larger contributions’.” He
also pointed out that “since the
Archdiocese’s obligations in its
national ministries are increasing, the
appropriate means must be found to
meet these obligations.” The debate
ended, the vote was taken, and the
recommendation on Chimples’s
motion was adopted unanimously.
The newly formed Leadership 100
Program began its life under the
direction of the legendary Archbishop
Iakovos with Andrew A. Athens and
George K. Chimples serving together
as Co-Chairmen from its initiation
in 1984 until the retirement of the
Archbishop, in 1996. Regulations
were adopted and a formal office
was established at the Archdiocese
to run its day-to-day affairs under the
leadership of two priests, Fr. Alexander
Karloutsos, who served as Coordinator
from 1987 to 1992, and Fr. Nicholas
Triantafilou, who served as Executive
Director from 1992 to 1996.
In 1992, the name of the program was
officially changed to the Archbishop
Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment
Fund in honor of Archbishop Iakovos.
During those early years, the first
100 members grew to 303 members,
and fulfilled members increased to
119. Contributions reached $18.7
million, and grants, which began to
be distributed in 1989, reached $2.8
million, all by 1996. New members
were presented with Christ the True
Vine Icon by the Archbishop beginning
in 1986, a practice continued to the
current day.
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the Finance Committee of the
Archdiocesan Council of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of North and
South America, during its meeting
in Denver, Colorado on October 19,
1984, put forward the approved
proposal of his committee “of
contacting one hundred persons
who are financially well endowed
and who might be interested in
contributing $10,000 each to the
Archdiocese on an annual basis for
a period of ten years.” He further
recommended that the Council
members “be among the first to
inscribe their names on the list of
these benefactors.”
